Flex-pack converter Packaging Dynamics Corp., Chicago, enters a definitive agreement Aug. 6 to acquire Papercon, Inc., for about $68.4 million. Papercon is a manufacturer of paper and foil-based specialty packaging products for foodservice, supermarket, quick-service restaurant and food processor customers. Headquartered in Atlanta, Papercon also has facilities in Dallas and Los Angeles. The company had net sales of approximately $85 million last year. Current Papercon owner Gaby Ajram will join Packaging Dynamics' executive management team. It is also anticipated that Ajram will be appointed to the Packaging Dynamics board of directors after the transaction closes.

Beachwood, OH-based investment group Kirtland Capital Partners IV completes its purchase of Vitex Packaging Group, Inc. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. VPG is a flex-pack converter for a variety of applications in the tea, medical, food and snack markets. Headquartered in Suffolk, VA, VPG is composed of three businesses: Vitex Packaging, a domestic producer of paper and barrier laminate tea-bag envelopes and tags; Genesis Converting, a provider of medical packaging applications; and Schuster Flexible Packaging, a regional supplier to the food and snack industry.

Cincinnati-based converter Ampac Packaging LLC enters into a business partnership July 30 with flex-pack maker Kapak Corp., Minneapolis. Armed with a new influx of capital, Kapak will be able to expand on its accomplishments in the flexible-pouch sector, Ampac says. Kapak will continue to operate independently with longtime president Gary Bell continuing in his leadership position, Ampac says. Privately-held Ampac is owned by management together with equity backing by Key Principal Partners and Pouschine Cook Capital Management. Founded in 1961, Kapak employs 80 people and is a leading converter of flex-pack materials, specializing in a variety of preformed pouches and rollstock.

Norcross, GA-based paperboard converter Rock-Tenn Co. acquires Menasha Packaging Co. LLC's Athens, AL, corrugated-sheet feeder facility. The Athens plant houses a recently built 98-in. corrugator capable of producing a variety of flute-size configurations. After starting operations in late 2002, the Athens corrugator grew to serve both Menasha Packaging sheet plants in the area as well as independent sheet plants across the southeast US. The Athens corrugator still has substantial open capacity, Rock-Tenn says.